Cory Mills flipped CD 7 red in 2022. Can Jennifer Adams win the seat back this year?

Can Jennifer Adams turn Cory Mills' CD 7 blue?

Redistricting in 2022 turned Florida’s 7th Congressional District from a Democratic jurisdiction to an easy Republican flip. Republican Cory Mills ultimately won the district with close to 59% of the vote.

As the New Smyrna Beach Republican runs for re-election, he faces a spirited challenge from Jennifer Adams, a business owner who said the incumbent has pushed an extreme agenda in Washington.

“My values represent those of my hometown district where I grew up,” Adams said. “My life has been here, I know the people, what we need to get done, and am raising my family here. Mills doesn’t live here and is Missing in Action — he is a divisive opportunist in it for himself — I’m all about collaboration and common sense solutions — I’m in it for our community, our families, our country and our future.”

Will that make a difference in a district where voters supported Donald Trump for President by 6 percentage points in 2020 and nearly 60% backed Gov. Ron DeSantis’ re-election in 2022?

Mills, for his part, has made headlines as often for his work outside of his congressional duties as for his actions in Washington. That included rescuing Americans trapped in Haiti amid unrest there and flying supplies into hurricane-stricken areas in North Carolina and, more recently, in parts of Florida. He has developed relationships with billionaire Elon Musk and social media influencer Benny Johnson to direct philanthropic aid to those areas.

But he also generated controversy with remarks many heard as conspiracy mongering after an attempted assassination of Trump this year in Pennsylvania.

“The amount of negligence, the amount of mistakes that was made here, I have a very difficult time not leaning myself towards this was intentional, as opposed to fecklessness,” Mills told CNN, prompting extreme pushback.

After the interview, House Speaker Mike Johnson also passed over Mills for an appointment to a special committee investigating the Pennsylvania shooting, so the Congressman forced his own rogue committee to look at the matter independently.

Adams, a delegate for the state at the Democratic National Convention, sees the off-hours conduct by Mills as a distraction from an extreme record out of step with a centrist district. That includes the Congressman voting against a deal to fund the government immediately before Hurricanes Helene and Milton hit the state.

“As Florida faces back-to-back hurricanes I was not surprised when I saw our current representative, Cory Mills, voted against funding for FEMA which is desperately needed for hurricane victims and relief efforts,” Adams said. “Even worse, my opponent immediately went on a photo op tour to capture headlines with the people in the disaster-stricken areas who he voted against funding just before Hurricane Helene hit Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and parts of Tennessee and Virginia.”

Mills waved off the concerns.

“I’m focused on helping those in need as I always have. Serving our great nation, state, district, and communities,” he said. “My time is better spent serving the people and not responding to petty ad hominem attacks.”

Of course, Mills in 2022 came out on top in a competitive Republican Primary and then defeated Karen Green, then the Vice Chair of the Florida Democratic Party.

He also enjoys the fundraising advantages of incumbency. Through Oct. 16, Milles raised more than $1.4 million for his re-election effort and had more than $188,000 in cash on hand still left to spend. Meanwhile, Adams raised more than $257,000 and had just a little over $20,000 left at the same time.

The district was represented by Democratic U.S. Rep. Stephanie Mills less than two years ago, though that was under prior lines when almost 55% of voters backed Democrat Joe Biden for President. After redistricting, many of those voters now live in nearby, safe Democratic jurisdictions.

As of Aug. 20, CD 7 served as home to more than 214,000 registered Republicans and more than 169,000 registered Democrats, with about 182,000 other voters on the rolls as well.

National Democrats haven’t shown much interest in the district, either in this cycle or the last one. While the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has targeted Republican-held seats in Tampa Bay and South Florida, the same attention hasn’t been paid toward defeating Mills.

But Adams said she remains confident that voters in the district want change.